


Don't Go

by stargazerdaisy



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fighting, Heartbreak, being scared of their emotions, seriously so much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 06:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12929358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargazerdaisy/pseuds/stargazerdaisy
Summary: “Grant,” she whispered brokenly. “Don't do this.”He shook his head and looked away, the look on her face was too much.  Her heart was breaking before his eyes and he couldn’t stomach watching that again.  “I have to.”“No,” she commanded through her tears, stubbornness settling in her features. “You don't have to. You stay right here. Youfightfor this. You can't just give up and run away.”





	Don't Go

**Author's Note:**

> I had this thought nag at me the other day and I just had to write this terribly angsty, heartbreaking little scene. There isn't much in the way of plot, but the goal was the emotion. Hopefully that lands.

“Grant,” she whispered brokenly. “Don't do this.”

He shook his head and looked away, the look on her face was too much. Her heart was breaking before his eyes and he couldn’t stomach watching that again. “I have to.”

“No,” she commanded through her tears, stubbornness settling in her features. “You don't have to. You stay right here. You _fight_ for this. You can't just give up and run away.”

“Skye…” He didn't know what else there was to say. 

“Don’t ‘Skye’ me,” she ordered, rage now filling her where despair had been moments earlier. “You sit your ass and down you explain this to me. You make me understand why you’re being such a coward and taking off, now, after everything we’ve been through. Why?!”

“It’s better this way,” he defended weakly. His resolve was disappearing with every moment. 

“Better for who? Better for you?” she challenged.

“Better for you,” he said, wishing there was some way he could explain it. “You’re better off without me.”

“Who the hell put you in charge of what is best for me? News flash: no one. I am the only person who gets to decide that. I thought I made that clear when I had to fight against everyone else, just to get them to leave me alone about you. Was that all just a waste now?”

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. It most certainly hadn't been a waste to him. Her staying with him the past few months had been everything to him. Even among all the misery and suffering he'd gone through, he had borne it because she had been there with him, every step of the way. But he knew it was going to come crashing down any moment and if he could spare her any of that pain by leaving now, he would do that. He owed her that much.

She crossed her arms and stared hard at him, practically demanding an answer, even though they both knew there wasn’t a satisfactory one he could give her. 

“It’s just……. It’s time,” he said. Fatigue settled in his bones, weighing him down.

Her eyes narrowed and her frame stiffened. When she spoke it was with steel in her voice. “If you walk out that door now, that's it. There won't be anything left. You don't get to do this to me again, and expect me to ever think about you again. There will be no coming back. It will be over. Final. Dead. You've had that choice before and we know where that got you. Is that really the choice you want to repeat?”

The breath was knocked out of his lungs at her words. It wasn’t not a surprise, per se. He knows Skye, he knows how deeply she cares about people, and how much she’s been hurt. And he knows there is a limit to amount of pain one can take, especially when it’s caused by the same person over and over again. He has been there himself, he hit that point at age 15 and it changed the trajectory of the rest of his life. But to actually hear it, not just in his own mind, but from her directly still hit him with a physical force. This wasn’t hyperbole, this wasn’t an idle threat. When Skye made up her mind, especially about something like this, she would hold to it. Every instinct in him screamed that this was too big of a sacrifice to make, that this was a mistake, that it wasn’t what he wanted. But wasn’t that just what he was telling her? That he needed to leave, that being with her wasn’t the right choice. Was he lying to her or himself?

“I can’t do this,” he wheezed desperately, his chest aching as if he was breathing glass. 

“ _You_ can’t do this?” She was incredulous. “Of course, why did I forget for a minute that it’s always about the great Grant Ward and what he needs. Everyone else be damned. If he needs to do it on his own, don’t bother trying to help him. But the second he needs your help, he’ll be right there, begging for it. It really doesn’t matter what the rest of us need or want.” 

Her words stung him like acid. “I’ve only ever tried to protect you,” he insisted. 

She barked a harsh laugh. “Right, protecting me. Do I even need to list how many times you kidnapped me yourself?! But sure, that’s why you’re trying to run away right now. To protect me. Have you noticed you’re the only who always leaves?” She paused and looked straight at him, saying evenly, “What are you so afraid of?”

“I…..” he floundered. How she managed to always pierce through his armor, to get right to the root of his feelings, to put words to the thoughts he refused to acknowledge with stunning clarity, still amazed him. It _was_ fear that was driving him. Not just the fear for her that he had already expressed, but he realized he was terrified for himself. There was no way this could last forever. One day she was sure to wake up and realize she’d wasted so much time and effort on him, and that he didn’t deserve it. If he waited around for that day, how much much entrenched with her would he be? How much worse would it hurt then?

“How can you talk about protecting me when you’re the one hurting me?” she asked softly. Tears glistened anew in her eyes. It was rare that he saw her look so vulnerable and fragile. 

The doorknob was growing warmer from the heat of his hand the longer he stood there debating with himself. It twisted and he opened the door, preparing to step through.

“Please,” she whispered one last time.

The door closed.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.


End file.
